Queenstown: 28-31 October

It was a quick hour ride to Queenstown! We were used to the five to ten hour drives so this was a relief!

Feli came to New Zealand to travel for two months then work as an au pair and study English for three months then travel again for a month, then go teach English in Asia for three more months. An organization in Germany set up for Feli to meet her host family in Queenstown where she will be studying. So when we got off the bus the host Mom was waiting for Feli and we split ways for the night.

That night I again got settled in my hostel, Alpine Lodge, and made some dinner. I then caught up on some much-needed internet time and watched a movie with some of the other people staying at the hostel.

The next day Feli and I met up in the morning. We toured the town and walked around all day. It was nice to walk and talk. Queenstown is a beautiful city. Definitely a mountain town! For lunch we had the famous Fergburger. We got some onion rings to go along with it. It was a big burger but I would say it is an average tasting burger and onion rings compared to American. :)

Fooooooood

We chatted the afternoon away before her host Mom came to pick her up. I made some dinner and chatted with few other people in the hostel and finished a book. Nice relaxing night.

The next day I was motivated to do a nice hike. It looked like the Ben Lomond  hike was perfect! Instead of taking the gondola up, I hike up to where it was. That is where the Ben Lomond hike starts. About fifteen minutes into the hike I saw some wild goats!

Baaaaa

The first hour or so was pretty much just following the side of the mountain with a steady incline. It was a cloudy gloomy day so it was cool to have the clouds hovering over my head, but too bad that I couldn’t see the peaks of the mountains around.

After a long hard incline, I finally made it to the Ben Lomond saddle. This was about an hour away from the end of the hike to the summit, but I was basically already in the clouds that I didn’t want to hike up to the summit by myself with no views. But this place had spectacular views!

On the other side of the saddle. Queenstown is to my back. 

I met two nice men from Denmark at the top here and chatted with them for a while. He gave me his return ticket to the gondola because they were hiking to a different town and also gave me his business card and told me to stay in contact! He also offered his home if I was ever in Denmark and needed a place to stay. :P

After a nice picnic at the top I started to head back. On the way down I found a different trail to take. It followed the top of the mountain all the way down to the gondola. SUPER amazing. It was quite the hike. I felt like a goat at many times because I had to shuffle pass many cliffs and boulders.

In the middle of the picture, where the mountain dips, is Ben Lomond Saddle.
If you follow the mountain coming toward you to the left is where I hiked back.
(its more challenging then it looks :P)

I got to this one point where it had a great view of Queenstown and the surround mountains, “The Remarkables.”

Queenstown!

I ended up taking the gondola down, because when else would I get a chance to ride Queenstown gondola?

When I got home I took a much-needed shower. Feli and I then met up for dinner and a guy we met, Joram from Holland, in Wanaka also joined us. We had an easy night by going to a movie and eating too much popcorn. :)

The next day in Queenstown, I did another great hike! It is called the Queenstown Hill Walkway. It was a perfect day for a hike. This one also had spectacular views! I am starting to realize that wherever you go here, you will have a stunning view. 

Once I got to the summit of the hike, I did a 360 panorama picture.

I then wanted to keep walking so I went off the beaten track and went my own way for about an hour! This was great. Since no one was around and I had my head phones in I was singing away, or maybe no one was around because I was singing.... either way it was great! 

These hills ARE alive with the sound of music! 

After finding bones of some animal I thought it was a good idea to turn back. I got back made some dinner and then met up with Feli and Joram to get ready for Halloween night! They have something similar called Carnival where they are from, but this was the first time they celebrated Halloween! What a great, crazy night it turned out to be! It was the perfect night to say goodbye to Feli. I will miss you Feli!!

We kept the costumes simple because we have no money! :P

The next day was another sunny gorgeous day! That day I did laundry, ran some errands, and had a headache. After dinner I went for a relaxing stroll in the Queenstown gardens and watch the sun set behind the mountains.

The next couple of stops I am taking a tour bus. So I will be able to see the rest of the South Island I wanted to see in the next few days! So the next morning I caught the bus at 6 a.m. to head down to the bottom of the South Island. Off to Invercargill!